An Impromptu Portrait with Leica X Vario

Leica X Vario @ ISO 1600 1/80th sec F/3.5 at 28mm equiv

This morning as we were getting ready to go out, I thought I would do a quick Bokeh test with the Leica X Vario on my wife. Shot at 28mm equiv wide and F/3.5, I thought the Leica did really well. The sharpness of the lens is amazing wide open, and the background blur is just right. I'll perform a proper Bokeh test outdoors soon, but enjoy this one for now. I only have the camera for a few more days so I better get shooting! Full review coming soon.

Check out my full review of the Leica X Vario here.

Check out my street pics with the Leica X Vario here.

P.S. this image was cropped to a 21:9 aspect ratio to focus on my wife and the background, not the foreground clutter of our kitchen table. This gives you a good idea of the Bokeh at wide open. I can't wait to see what it will look like zoomed out to 70mm, but at F/6.4. This is a super sharp lens though!!

The Graffiti Writers of Vancouver: Meet Joe

Leica X Vario @ ISO 400 1/400th sec F/4.5 at 36mm equiv

Meet Joe. He's a graffiti artist, or as they call each other, a graffiti writer. He likes to draw with a spray can. He draws on walls, under bridges, and on trains. Why? The same reason why I take pictures, or why some like to play musical instruments. It's an expression of ourselves through our chosen medium, let it be a spray can, a camera, or a guitar. 

I ran into Joe, Jordan and Combo (tag name) as they were working on an amazing Simpson's themed mural in a parking lot in downtown Vancouver. I will post those pictures in the next few days but I just wanted to get this backwards portrait of Joe up first. He's a quiet guy, mild spoken, and very easy to talk to. They just finished the mural as it started to rain, and Joe was taking off to get his hair-cut when I got this one last shot of him. 

Thanks for posing Joe. I hope you get a decent haircut...

P.S. this picture was taken with the super cool but expensive Leica X Vario. I didn't think I would like it as a street shooter, but it's actually really awesome, especially if you know how to scale focus. More on this on my upcoming review....stay tuned!

Charlie Noble Delivery at Whole Foods?

While grocery shopping, this employee walked past me wearing his black Whole Foods apron and matching Charlie Noble Global Delivery hoodie on. I asked him when did Whole Foods start a bike delivery service and who's this Charlie Noble dude?  

Josh T and Mode on the Street

My buddy Josh and I thought we'd start a blog together a year ago. After much planning and discussion and debate, we launched a blog called Mode on the Street. As soon as we started the blog, I realized that we both had very strong visions for the blog and that a collaboration wouldn't work as smoothly as our good friendship. 

A Couple Window Shopping while Bike Doubling in Osaka

As mentioned on previous posts, bike doubling is very common in Japan, although technically illegal. Many don't own cars, and so bikes and public transit is the most efficient and cost effective form of transportation for couples and families. This couple seems to be enjoying themselves as they cruise down a side street full of boutique shops and restaurants. In fact, the girl was eyeing all the clothing stores as they cruised by each one. Window shopping without getting sore feet! Good idea! Ride on Osaka!!

Doing the Splits in Hong Kong!

That's my wife on the far left walking with her uncle #4 in Hong Kong. The bay area of To Kwa Wan is a popular place for exercise, especially for early morning walks. I was trying to take a nice backwards portrait of my wife and her uncle and was waiting for this older gentleman to pass by, but he decided to stop.....and then stretch.....really stretch!! I thought to myself, if you're not going to leave my picture frame, I'm going to frame you into my picture!!

Kimono and Dreadlocks?

I'm going to re-post some older pictures since some amazing shots were sort of lost in past postings, as I use to post up to 12 pictures in a single blog entry!!

This picture was taken at my youngest brother's wedding in Osaka a few years back.  Up to that point, between myself and my big brother (I have 3 brothers and a sister), we had taken all family wedding pictures. This was the first wedding we could enjoy without being completely stressed out.... but old habits die hard!! I still brought 3 cameras with me!!

This is Miho, my sister-in-law's cousin. She's a professional hip-hop dancer, but for the wedding, she decided to go ultra traditional with her kimono...or did she? Look at her dreadlock updo!!  I liked the contrast in styles, or perhaps it's more of a juxtaposition? The bright red colour of the kimono and the red in her hair-do actually worked really well; as well as the layering of the kimono and the similar layering of her dreadlocks. And perhaps because she's a dancer by profession, her personality and her composure allowed her to pull off this cool look.

Ken Doll Reporter Backlit Backwards Portrait

I was walking through Gastown with my wife on our way to our newest favorite coffee shop, when we ran into a TV crew setting up.  Even from behind you can tell this reporter has the perfect height, perfect build, perfect hair, perfect sized hands, perfect posture....need I continue? I like backwards portraits, and I liked the way he was standing, or perhaps it was posing? He was actually frozen like that, as if he's practiced that stance many a times in front of a mirror perhaps? The spot light masked his face somewhat, but you can still imagine his impeccably handsome face. In fact, the guy walking to the far left couldn't stop starring!! Ha ha!!

Incidental Double Backwards Portrait

The beauty of photography is that it captures reality and illusion.  We don't see life as a still, but a constantly moving and shifting scene.  If I took a video of this very same scene, this split second frame would have come and gone without it being odd or amusing. But you freeze the moment, we capture an illusion.  This is why viewing a picture of a bullet shooting through an apple, frozen wings of a hovering hummingbird, or an athlete crossing the finish line is always captivating. It's reality, but still looks surreal.

In this picture, I really hope he's just looking for change for the meter......if only I had a video of this scene, we could find out for sure!  But the moment has come and gone, never to be repeated, and all we have is this frozen scene to keep us guessing......

Backwards Portrait of 1959 Impala

Look at the back of this thing!!  the 1959 Chevrolet Impala 2 door coupe was an amazing car, but it only lasted 2 years.  The next generation wasn't as cool, as upper management wanted a more conservative look.  One thing they changed was the rear lights, thinking the '59 was too bold and futuristic! 

This was truly the golden age of the American auto industry.  Think of the '59 Corvette, '59 Bel Air, '56 Thunderbird, all beautiful pieces of art.  Even the Europeans were coming out with amazing cars: 1958 Lotus Elite, MB 300SL, Porsche 550 RS Spyder.  I wish car manufacturers had the same sense of aesthetics and inspiration and boldness that they expressed back in the 50's and 60's. More 2 doors, more curves, and more convertibles please!! Stop making SUV's and cross vehicles!!

Backwards Portrait: Walking Down Gastown with Friends

My buddy, his wife, and my wife hanging out in Gastown on a cloudy afternoon.  It's not easy taking a moving picture, especially with the slow focus and shutter lag of the iPhone.  Also with motion, people sometimes can look awkward frozen in an static image.  This moment I froze in time captures that very second perfectly.........

Irritating Backward Portrait

I found a picture of my wife from the summer that I hadn't posted yet, as I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. A few things irritated me after I took this shot and looked at it carefully, and it has nothing to do with my wife, of course! 

First, the line between the water and the trees cut right through my wife's neck, as if it's slicing across, which bugs me.  I should have made sure the line runs lower, by her mid-shoulder, which would have been closer to the proper rule of thirds of the horizon line anyway. Second, there's a piece of whitish-gray tile next to my wife's right knee that looks out of place among the natural looking rocks and wood pieces.  Why didn't I see it and throw it away?

Finally, my wife should be placed another two feet over to the right, or I should have framed the shot two feet to the left, since she's neither centered, nor on the right third of the image. Because of this, notice how one piece of log sticking out of the ground next to my wife's right elbow is just a little too close to her?  Also notice the other piece of wood next to her left hip? If I re-framed the shot, her body would have covered the one entirely, and the other revealed it completely. That really bugs me!! Arghghgh!!. 

All these small things that bug me add up to a lot of things that bug me.  I know nobody would have noticed these things unless I mentioned it, but now that I did, how does the image make you feel?!?!?

Whistler, Snowboarding, Fashion?

Another backwards portrait of my wife posing with her new Park Pickle snowboard, jacket and colourful pants!! It's funny how people choose the most insane colours and patterns when skiing or snowboarding up in the mountains, even though they may be more conservative fashion-wise in normal work/school/social life.  Snow is the perfect canvas for colourful, over-the-top fashion, but how crazy can crazy get? I saw bunny ears, clown outfits, huge leprechaun hats, and jackets that looked like they ran on batteries! I needed shades because of the bright fashion, not because of the sun or the snow.  What's my mountain couture? Black pants, black jacket, black helmet, black gloves...... I know, I should loosen up just a little bit right? Maybe I'll wear pink socks next time........
Captured on my iPhone, Hipstamatic, John-S lens and Blanko film.

Doesn't the snow and trees look fake?  I didn't heavily modify this image at all, except cropping, sharpening, white balance and contrast.  It really did look this 'dreamy' when we were boarding. The trick to shooting in snow is to exposure compensate by at least 1.5 stops to factor in the reflective nature of snow which throws off the metering.  It's also really difficult to snowboard and take pictures.  I think I may need to invest in a helmet cam? Sorry..... I can't do it!  I'm too old school. I guess.....
Captured on my Panasonic FX-50, snow-mode, iso 200.

My Wife, the Queen, and Her Eyes

I've always admired my wife's ability to paint with a brush; whereas me as a photographer, I can only paint with light.  I took drafting and commercial design, and I'm a CS5 designer, but to hand paint or draw, it's still magic to me.  While a painter works at adding detail to a canvas, a photographer usually tries to remove or crop detail out from his or her digital canvas. 

After taking this picture, I cropped, blurred, removed colour, and added a heavy vignette along the parimeter, all in an effort to isolate and focus the viewer's visual onto the Queen of Hearts' eyes.  My wife is trying to do the same thing, but doing so by adding detail and focus onto those same eyes.  I like this picture because my wife's body, head and hand all create this frame in which we see through to get to the eyes of the Queen.

After Dinner Walk with Wife

Backward Portrait: The Wives

The girl's had no idea I took this picture. Me and Jer were walking behind the wives and I decided to take this pic quickly. I know Jer's wife on the far right looks too posed with her arm swinging, but it was completely spontaneous and I just happened to catch it. Walking along Cambie and 22nd in Vancouver.
Taken with my iPhone using Hipstamatic.

Fashionable Canada Post Letter Carrier

It appeared that everything this Canada Post letter carrier was wearing looked like it was standard issue, but it's the way she put everything together that stood out for me. I was lined up behind her buying a sandwich and I was impressed at how stylish she looked. The fringes of her long jacket reminded me of a dress fringe (you can't tell from the back, but she was wearing short shorts) , and her galoshes reminded me of stockings. She had this industrial, military school girl uniform look. I thought it was so cute. My wife said I should have asked her to take her hood off and look back, but it was rainy. I know she's German, and that she's blonde, but beyond that, I guess only I know how she looks!! But shooting her from the back with the hood on, I think it makes her look more powerful!!

Everyone should try and look good and stylish at work! Go Postal Girl Go!

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